GFAR is the global multistakeholder platform linking all those concerned about the future of agriculture and its role in development. GFAR thus offers tremendous potential, unconfined by institutional interests, for inclusive planning, prioritization, initiation and learning from agricultural research for development and, on behalf of all stakeholders, for advocating needs and the value of the sector to policy makers to stimulate investment in this arena. Change is urgently needed, as recently voiced in the World Development Report, IAASTD, CGIAR Change Management Process and Global Partnership on Agriculture and Food, as business as usual for agricultural research for development is not an option:
- Demographic pressures are growing fast
- Food demands are changing
- Climate is changing
- Land use is changing
- Water resources are decreasing and deteriorating
- Soil resources are eroding and degrading
- Urbanization is rapidly advancing, eating into fertile agricultural lands
- Indigenous knowledge is disappearing and resource-poor agricultural communities are increasingly marginalized in access to new information, knowledge, skills, technology and resources for development
There is an urgent need for the voices of the poor to be heard into the planning of, and investment in, agriculture and the role that agricultural research plays in advancing development. GFAR provides the basis for this collective movement for change.
Specific Objectives:
- Organize the Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development (GCARD), Montpellier, February 2010 as an innovative mechanism based on wide prior stakeholder consultation, for shaping the ARD agenda globally and providing a partnership framework for realigning the international agricultural research system.
- Mobilize advanced science and predictive mechanisms to identify longer-term agendas and potential impacts
- Provide the platform for cross-institutional advocacy for increased and more effective ARD investment, linked with initiatives such as the Global Partnership for Agriculture and Food
